Improvement in carriage-wheels



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

I R. W". THOMSON; CARRIAGE WHEEL, &c.

Nb. 5,104. "Patented-Mam 8, 1847;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. -R-. W. THOMSON. UARRIAGE WHEEL, 6m.

' Patented May 8. 184

liwe witar.

UNITED a STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

ROBERT W. THOMSON, STREET, ADELPHI, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN- CARFil AGE-WH EELS, 84c.

Specification forming pnrt of Letters Patent No. 5,164, dated May 8,1847.

To all whom, itmuq] concern:

lie itkuown that I, ROBERT VVILLIAM THOM- ,SON, civil engineer, of Adam Street, Adel phi,

. in the county of Middlesex, England, a subject ofrthe Queen of Great-Britain, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Carriage-\Vheels,which is; also applicable to-othe'r rolling bodies; and I, the

'.said Ronnn'r WILLIAM Tnonson, do hereby manner in which the same isto be performed,

declare the nature of the invention and the in and by the following statement thereof- The nature of my said invention consists in --theapphcat1on of elasticrbeai-ings round the tires of fthe'wheels of' carriages for the purpose oflessening the power required to draw- .theca'rriages, rendering their motion easier,

' and diminishing "the noise they make when I in motion. I prefer employingfor-the pnrpose a liollowbelt-composed of some air and watertight material, such as snlphurized caoutchou'c or gutta-percha, and inflating it with air,:wherebythe wheels, will in every part of their revolution present acushion of a rto the ground or rail or track on which I broader than usual and project considerably.

they run. r

Figure Us a side view of a whcel'of thisdc s'cription", shown partlyin section. The tire and felly .-T 'l are made much I 'at both sides beyond the supporting-spokes,

as shown'at T 1 in the cross-section of the wheel given in Fig. II. I

- one upon'the'other andeach fold connected of indiarubbcr orgutta-percha or other shit The elasticbelt, is made as follows: A number oftfolds of canvas saturated and covered on both sides with sulphurized india-rnbher 'or gutta-pcrcha ina state of solution are laid toth'e one immediately below it by-a solution able cement." Iho'belt thus'formed is then sulphuri'ze'd'byi ninersion .in melted sulphur or exposure to the-tn Ines of burning sulphur,

which renders it{ n iore'pliable and prevents it getting stiff on exposure-to cold; or the 'beltmay bemadiiof a single thicknessofi indiu- 'rjubhcr'or" uttu peroha ma sheet state'and 1),:Figs. I and ll,'in which to hold the elastic sulphuriz'e; as aforcsaidnnd then inclosediuia'canvas-eovorr- A strong outercasmg' D belt is then' built up (so to speak) around the tire by riveting together a series of circular segments of leather and bolting them tothe tire in the manner shown in Fig. II. The segments at two of their edges a a, Fig. II, are

made to overlap each other, as shown, and thensecuredin their place by passing bolts G G, Fig."II, through the tire and folly and making thenrfast by nuts g 9, Fig. II. The elastic belt 0, Fig. II, is then laid upontho portions of the segments 1) D, Fig. II, thus made fast to the tire, and. secured in its place bybringing the two remaining and as yet unjoiued edges'b b, Fig. ll, of the segments tO gether; over the casing arid connecting them together byrivetsF F, Fig. II. A pipe I, Fig.

I, through which to inflate the elastic-belt with air, is passed at one place through the 'tire'of the wheel and fitted with an air--tight screw-cap.

I prefer distending the elas'tiebelt with air, 7

as being-more suitable than anything else for the purpose; but it may be distended with various solidsubstances of an elastiequah ber of separate tubes of smaller dimensions clustered together and incloscd within a leather cover. D; A wheel with. a belt coustri'icted in this manner is shown in Figs. III

and IV, the former being aside view, partly in section,and the latter a cross-section. The

tubes arc-nine in nuinber and each of length sudicicut to go round the wheel. They are represented as tied at the ends, but for greater convenience ofinflation may be closed by screw-caps atlone' end. The whole are inclosed in a =leathercover 1). If the three tubes, which are shown in the, crosssection, Fig. IV ascom'ing next the tire were filled with air more highly compressed than that contained inthe tubes which come in contact with the ground, thiswould serve to graduatethe resiliency of the belt in a manner highly favorable to the elllciency ofits action.

Any mduc displacement-of the air at the beariug'points of the wheel maybe prevented.

' of expansion and contraction being limitedby the extent of the compartments, the belt must necessarily oiferat each point of con.- tact with the ground a greater degree of re sistan'cc to compression; and in some cases,

where from the nature ofthe roadway fi e (1011b concussions are likely to take place, a ilat strap or band of sulphurized caoutchouc or gutta-percha or other suitable elastic substance of the width of the tire and about half an inch in thickness might be interposed between the tire of the wheel and the elastic belt, soas to render it less liable to rupture in the event of its beingjammed between the roadway and the tire.

Where the leather cover of the elastic belt is likely to be exposed to much tear and wear I propose to use-a belt of the description shown on the cross-section, Fig. VI. Here one of the pieces D is secured to the tire of the wheel by bolts or screws, and it is bent round and sewed or riveted to the other piece D The edges of D overlap the piece D and the outer casing E is secured to those edges by strong leather thongs. This arrangement will permit of the ready removal of the outer casing Ewhen'worn and the substitut-ion of a new casing without disturbing the elastic belt or its attachment to the wheel, and in all cases the outer casing D or E may be protected from wear by. covering the outer surface with flat-headed metal rivets secured on the inside with small washers.

For common-passenger-carriages the elastic belt will require to be about four or five inches in diameter and to be inflated to such an extent as to keep the tire of the wheel two and a halt or three inches from the ground-a distance which, it is presumed, will be found sufficient'to admit of the wheel passing over any stones or other matters projecting beyond the general level of any ordinary turnpike road without the solid tire coming in con-" tact with them. In carriages to which these elastic belts are applied the springs now in use may be dispensed with. In wagons for the carriage of goods the belt ought to be made of stronger materials and of larger diameter than in the case of passenger-carriages, and the outer leather cover should be protected by flat-headed metal rivets secured by small washers, as aforesaid.

.lVheels with elastic belts such as I have described may be used with great advantage on timber,railways, -cspecially if the moditi cations represented in Figs. VII and VIII are adopted. l hc wheels in this case might be -ot the common -form,e.\'cept thcyshould have agreateuw'idth of tire given them and be without flanges. The carriages are proposed to be kept on the rails by guide-wheels K K, working'on a shaft L, secured by stays toithe carriages and acting on a raised rail liLlaid between the lines of rails on which the bearing-wheels run. The rails R Rare to be made of longitudinal beams of timber, say, twelve inches broad and six inches deep, cross-ties, of timber T 'l are to connect the .two longi tudinal rails together, and to these cross-ties the longitudinal rail on which the guide- ,wheelsact is'to be fixed. I prefer employing guide-wheels to attaching flanges to the bearing-wheels; but-the latter'alsp may be used; To increase the bite of the driving-wheels of the locomotive, I insert in the outer cover of the elastic belt alarge number of rivets with sharp conical heads. .The drawing Fig. VIII shows a side view of apair of railway-wheels on this plan for running on timber rails, and Fig. VII a cross-section and end elevation of the same.

The elastic belts are also peculiarly applicable to carriages propelled by steam on common roads. The comparatively 'smallamonnt' of power required to propel carriages the wheels of which are fitted with these belts,

the steadiness of their motion, the .absence of all-jolt-ing, and consequent security of the machinery from injury, the small damage the carriages will do to roads, the absence of nearly all noise, the high speed thatmay safely beattained, and the great gentleness of the motion will, I think, enable steam-carriages'to be run on common roads with great In applying my elastic hearings to this chair I propose to make the circular segments on which the chair rolls about three inches wide on their behring-surtaces and to secure to these segments an elastic tube of about. two inches diameter, so as to interpose the tube between the segments and the floor, so that the chair would roll on and'be supported by the elastic tube I propose, further, to apply the elastic hearings 'to rollers for the removal of heavy bodies. Such rollers would be used in the same way that wood or iron rollers are new, commonl y used-that is, by being placed below the body which is to be moved. The

advar'itage which rollers with elastic bearings would have over hard and metallic rollers is that a large number of them may be made to bear equally iii; the same time, even illings to the surfaces of other roiling bodies, though the ways on which the body s-being as before exemplified.

moved are not quite even. R. N. THOMSON.

Having new described the nature of my said Witnesses: invention and in what manner the same is to J NO. ALCOCK, be performed, I declare that what I claim is- Lincolns Inn, London.

. 1. The application of elastic bearingsround JOSEPH BIARQUETTE,

the tire of carriage-wheels,asbeforedescribfi. Clerk in the Consulate of the U. States, Lon- 2. The application of similar elastic bear don; 

